


curtain call

by Misty_Reeyus



Category: NieR: Automata (Video Game)
Genre: During Canon, F/M, Friendship, Route A/B, Slight pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-01
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-31 14:50:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 630
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15121781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Misty_Reeyus/pseuds/Misty_Reeyus
Summary: “Eyes are the window to the soul.”





	curtain call

**Author's Note:**

  * For [aetherae](https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherae/gifts).



“Proposal: locate and reequip combat visor so as to maintain optimal efficiency in future battles.”

“Yes, I know,” 2B calls out, a concise response to her Pod’s suggestion. Her voice is steady, impassive, neutral—but without the usual blindfold veiling her face, 9S can see the light roll of her eyes that betrays her annoyance. After ordering her Pod to run the dynamic scanner, 2B surveys their surroundings, her eyes squinting against the sandy winds.

Her bare face is the result of one particularly aggressive machine managing to get close enough to rip 2B’s visor off during battle. While the enemies were all eventually defeated without further trouble, 2B discovered in the aftermath that her blindfold managed to get lost amidst the ever shifting sand dunes. Now, she and 9S follow the pinging of their Pods in search of the device, yet, 9S finds himself much less interested in the task at hand than he is in watching various expressions flit across his partner’s face.

Normally, 2B is closed off, wearing masks upon masks in her attempts to hide her true nature from him. 9S has never bought it—he’s already figured out why Command partnered them up, he knows the duty she has to fulfill, and despite all her defenses, 2B’s never been terribly hard to read. But she seems more _raw_ than ever now, exposed and even a bit uncomfortable, as she slides across the sands and haphazardly darts her gaze all about the desert.

The visor was a mask of its own, one that 9S has rarely seen her without, and now that it’s stripped away, her emotions shine clearer than ever. The frustrated scrunch of her nose, the concentrated furrow of her brow, the sheer focus in her gaze. Her eyes especially are such a fascinating discovery, because away from the dim lighting of the bunker, even through the dusty air around them, bright blue irises render him captivated.

So captivated, in fact, that 9S stumbles over himself the moment some sand slips beneath his shoes.

He just barely manages to regain his balance without face-planting into the ground, and with his gaze focused downwards, he notices a shock of sleek black against dusty brown. The technology-embroidered fabric lies half-buried in the sand at his feet, and 9S bends down instantly to dig it out.

“2B, I found it!” 9S proclaims, shaking it free of sand before brandishing it towards her.

2B turns so that she’s looking directly at him, and 9S watches as tension abruptly drains from her shoulders, as her face fills with relief. In that moment, her gorgeous blue eyes shine clearer than he’s ever seen them, causing his pulse to rise and warmth to bloom in his chest. 2B reaches for his hand, and her touch through both their gloves lingers as she retrieves her visor.

9S recalls now something his Operator said once about strange human colloquialisms, one of which was “Eyes are the window to the soul”. He didn’t really understand it then, but he thinks he does now, because as the shimmering windows of 2B’s face are once again concealed behind black curtains, he instantly feels her defenses go back online.

…Yet, when 2B says “Thank you,” there’s a warm trill to her voice, and 9S pretends not to notice that her red lips twitch upwards before she turns her back to him. “Now let’s go, 9S.”

His partner’s candid moment is over, but 9S is simply glad he got to see a glimpse of it at all. Content, 9S closes his eyes behind his own blindfold, then brings the hand that 2B just touched to his own lips, smiling against his fingers.

“Yeah yeah,” he calls, breaking into a run to keep up with her. “Right behind you.”


End file.
